End of Eternity
by Xyex
Summary: Altered History Saga 7 - Raven and her mate have arrived in the North Galaxy and the invasion has begun. But their plans seem to go beyond mere conquest... What are they after, and can anyone stop them?
1. Arrival

A/N: And so it begins, the final Saga of Altered History. Questions will be answered. Story arcs will be completed. Major twists will be revealed and Moments of Epicness will be had (at least, I hope they're as epic as intended).

I should note that updates will be slow (what else is new?) at least for a while. My ability to actually upload new chapters is severely limited at the moment.

If you're new here I'd recommend going back and reading the series from the start. There are a lot of OCs and a lot of changes to canon, things wont make as much sense if you've not read the previous stories. If you've been with me since the beginning, holy crap, you're awesome. Thank-you. And with that, let us begin...

Part One: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Chapter One - Arrival

July 22nd

There were maybe a dozen people standing in the field, working under the blazing light of the sun high above. The other two stars that lit their world were currently beyond the horizons to those working in the field, tending to the plants. Out of sight beyond the yellowish hazes of an ending sunset and impending sunrise. They, of course, had no use for what they were growing since they didn't require food. Water and sunlight was sufficient for them. But the galaxy at large had developed a taste for the berries that grew on these particular bushes and the Nameks were more than happy to cultivate and sell them.

After so long trying to remain hidden from the rest of the galaxy, to avoid the scrutiny of the Cold Family, it was nice to be involved again. And the income from the berries could help to buy and build the means to maintain that involvement. Communications equipment and the facilities to house them. New space craft or new technologies to repair or upgrade their old and run down ships. There were more Nameks off world now than in the last five hundred years combined. And while the berries couldn't pay for all of it, they contributed.

One of the workers had stopped for a moment to take a drink. He'd tipped the canteen up to his mouth, tilting his head back to get a good gulp, when he saw it. A spark of light up in the sky. He didn't think much of it at first, just a vague curiosity at what it might be. As it quickly grew larger and brighter, however, his vague curiosity developed into genuine interest, and then concern as he realized it was a massive fireball descending almost directly at him. He was too shocked to move, to speak, to call out a warning, and so the first anyone else knew of the object's approach was when it slammed into the ground no more than two hundred feet from where they were working.

The shockwave from the impact knocked them all over, startling them, and they were slow to recover. They all turned to look toward the impact point and stared in shock and wonder at what they saw. It was a large silver and white metallic... thing... that was about three hundred feet wide at its base, and maybe two hundred feet tall. It was shaped like a five sided pyramid, though the corners were rounded, and instead of coming to a point at the top the tip was perfectly flat, and about five feet across. Along the surface of the five sides were several rows of what rather looked like green glass oval shaped domes.

"What... is it?" one of them wondered. Before anyone could respond, however, everything suddenly went dark. Knowing that the shadow that had engulfed them was far too dark to be mere clouds they turned their gazes skyward. They stared up at what they saw in a mix of confusion and apprehension. A massive ship filed the sky, blotting out the light. It was unlike anything they'd ever seen before, looking vaguely like a giant metal bird. It continued flying overhead, moving passed them and heading toward the nearby village.

"Are we being invaded?" another asked, clearly worried. They watched as the ship moved over the village and then settled to a stop overhead. Then, suddenly, a series of openings appeared along the underside of the ship and streams of men in battle armors began to pour out.

XXX

Planet Tanaria

She closed her eyes, groaned, leaned forward, and put her head in her arms. It was at times like this that she hated her sister. Well, no, maybe hate was a little strong. More like 'was severely annoyed with.' Still, if she hadn't gone off and married the heir to the Sai-jin throne, and abdicated her position on Tanaria in order to instead rule the Sai-jins, Akemi wouldn't have been stuck here at this rehearsal right now. Until five years ago she wasn't the one destined to be Queen of Tanaria, Sakura was.

/Then the time comes for Sakura to start preparing for her coronation and she goes and runs off to Planet Vegeta!/ Akemi thought sourly. Not that it had been easy for Sakura to convince their mother to let her abdicate and move to Planet Vegeta. Tradition and heritage and all that. And, when Akemi wasn't so frustrated and bored, she remembered that she was actually the one to get their mother to agree to it. Not because she wanted to be Queen but because Trunks and her sister were destiny.

Everyone knew about the Trunks and Sakura of the future being together, but that wasn't why Akemi considered it destiny. It was destiny because she had seen it. A glimpse of the future she'd had the night after Sakura declared her desire to abdicate and move to Planet Vegeta. It wasn't the future that had actually transpired, in her vision Hotaru had not yielded. The end result had been... less than ideal. The two had eventually abandoned their thrones leaving both races in a state of chaos.

She wasn't sure of the full details, but she knew that her father had gone looking for them, and that he must have found them. Because the vision had ended with Trunks and Sakura laying on the ground, holding hands, staring into each other's eyes, and Yamcha laying near-by staring up at the sky, but none of them seeing anything because they were all dead. How and why this happened Akemi had never learned. As soon as she'd had the vision she'd gone to her mother and her father and told them that not letting Sakura abdicate would be a disaster. Her mother had, reluctantly, relented and that future she had witnessed never happened.

"Akemi, could you please pay attention?" her mother asked, and the girl could practically feel her frowning.

"It's mind numbing." Akemi mumbled into her arms. "I just turned nineteen four days ago, is this really necessary right now? It's almost a full year until the coronation!"

Hotaru sighed. "I understand how you feel, but this is important. We have to make sure everything goes just right at your coronation."

"You crammed everything into a few weeks." Akemi reminded, bringing her head back up. "Ran off to fight Zarbon and Frieza and almost didn't even make it back in time for coronation. You certainly didn't care about it being 'just right' then."

Hotaru sighed. "Things were different then." she said. "My coronation was watched by maybe a hundred thousand people. All of them Tanarian. No one else cared, or even knew we still existed, back then. But the galaxy has changed since I was crowned. Your coronation is going to be broadcast across the entire galaxy. Trillions of people will be watching it. We're a galactic power now, a major force in the Sennari."

"I know. I know." Akemi said. "I understand the importance and everything, it just... feels like too much show and not enough substance. I get why the suggestions were made to change the ceremony, to try and appeal to other races and to show that we stand for the entire galaxy, not just Tanaria. I just think it's overboard. It feels forced, fake."

Her mother frowned, and then sighed. She'd actually been thinking the same things, she just wasn't sure what to do about it. She agreed with her advisors that they needed to do something to update the coronation to reflect their galactic standing. They wanted to present themselves as a part of the galaxy, not just a people unto themselves. But she also agreed with her daughter that this... wasn't the way to do it. Problem was, she didn't have any better ideas of her own.

"Unless you have something better, this is what we've got." she said. "Maybe if we work on it enough it'll seem more natural."

Akemi laughed a little and shook her head. "You have read the speech they wrote for me, right?" she asked.

Her mother shrugged and smiled a little. "I did say maybe." She sighed as she straightened up again. "Alright. You win. This really isn't going to work, and we both know it. There's no point trying to force it. I'll go back and tell them to... I don't know, fix it somehow. In the meantime... have you seen anything else?"

Akemi frowned and crossed her arms as she shook her head no. In the fourteen years since the Demon War she'd had quite a few visions of the future, some fairly mundane and others (such as the one about her sister and Trunks) that were more pressing. She'd also learned ways of guiding them, even if only slightly, while they were happening as well as calling them to happen at will. Though having one at will was still hit or miss, sometimes she could try for hours and get nothing and other times she barely even had to focus and it would happen.

This progress seemed to have its drawbacks, however. It wasn't long after she had her first vision at will, the result of several hours of meditation, that she'd had her first spontaneous waking vision. She'd just been sitting in her room watching the news, watching a story that had been airing, and then BAM. She was suddenly six weeks in the future witnessing how the manhunt being discussed on TV was going to end. It was like having willed the earlier vision had opened up some kind of channel between her conscious and subconscious minds that she couldn't control. When it wanted to open and let a vision through, it did.

This had proven to be an issue more than once in the last six years. She'd broken an arm one day because she'd been flying about five hundred feet above the ground when she'd slipped into a vision. Once in the vision she'd lost all control over her body and fell to the ground below, the pain of her arm breaking had snapped her out of the vision not long after it had started. Another time she'd been taking a bath when a vision had hit. The loss of bodily control had caused her to slip under the water and nearly drown. Fortunately, the lack of oxygen had caused the vision to break before she'd passed out, or died, from it.

There had been a few other such incidents over the years, and most recently she'd been sitting in on a diplomatic meeting when a vision had struck. Luckily she'd already been sitting down at the time, but she'd still managed to tip out of her chair and smack her head on the corner of the table. That had been about six months ago and was the vision her mother was referencing now. She'd seen... something. The trouble was, she wasn't sure what. The vision had been... odd, to say the least.

Normally, her visions were clear. As though she was standing right there as events were happening. She might only get snippets a few seconds long, from several different points in time, but everything was as clear and solid as reality. This vision had been different. Everything had been muddled, blurry, and the sounds distorted so much she'd been unable to distinguish one from another.

It was kind of like someone had set up a series of cameras and recorded hundreds of different locations, then overlapped all the videos and played it all back at once. There was no sense of time, of place, just a big jumbled mess that all ran together. She'd willed more visions to come since then, and had several more spontaneous ones in her sleep, but all were the same. Blurred, distorted, and unhelpful.

"No." she said at last. "Every vision for the last six months has been the same. And no matter how many times I have it I can't make out any useful details. It's like I'm getting multiple overlapping visions, like time is rushing in and shoving who knows how much of the future into my face all at once." Akemi sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I... I'm worried that if I can't figure it out in time something really bad is going to happen."

"Hey," Hotaru began gently. "If something happens then we'll deal with it when it comes, alright? We all got along just fine for quite a while without your visions. It's not all up to you, ok?"

Akemi sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I know. But it feels like I have a bigger share of the responsibility because of my gift. I can see things before they happen, I can help everyone else to do their part better. But if I can't do that, then..."

Hotaru walked over to where her daughter sat and rested a hand on her shoulder. "It's not the end of the world." she said. "You have more to contribute to the galaxy than just your visions. Now, go on. Get out of here. I'll send all this stuff back to the staff and have them try again, maybe make something that isn't so..."

"Awkward? Absurd? Comical?" Akemi offered, and her mother nodded half smiling and half sighing.

"Yeah."

XXX

Planet Namek

Elder Moray stood in the center of his village, the two strongest warriors on the planet standing at his side, watching the ship above disgorge a small army. There were only broad similarities to their physical appearances, they were clearly not all members of the same race, but their attire was all of similar design. Battle armors, like those still issued by the Sennari to its forces, though these were clearly not Sennari soldiers.

"Elder, you should really move inside." said Torg, one of the two Nameks with him.

"No." Morray replied. "Hiding will not help. I will meet these men and see what it is they want." Though, he was worried he already knew what these invaders were after. There wasn't much on their world worth invading for, certainly not in these numbers. "Has the Sennari been contacted yet?"

"Our communications are being blocked." replied Shale, the other Namek standing at Morray's side. "We can't transmit anything off world."

"So, on our own." Morray said, clasping his hands behind his back as the descending army began to land in the village. The Elder moved his eyes across the soldiers as they arrived, taking in their appearances and demeanors. They all wore battle armors, though the designs varied. Some had shoulder fins, some straps. Some wore body suits, some didn't. And the colors were even more varied. He also thought he noticed an emblem of some sort on each of their chest plates, some kind of circle.

Looking past the outfits he took in their features more and felt a small sense of relief as he saw their eyes, their faces. He saw no cruelty, no bloodlust, only hard determination and purpose. These people, whoever they were, were willing to do whatever was needed to achieve their goals but they were not malicious by nature. They would not harm his people without cause.

Morray turned his gaze from the army that now filled and surrounded his village to the sky above as light suddenly returned. The ship that had just discharged these men was leaving, heading back up into the sky. He wasn't sure what to make of that, why the ship was leaving with the men still here. His focus was drawn back down again when one of the soldiers spoke.

"We do not wish violence." the soldier said, moving forward from the others and taking a few steps toward Morray. Morray thought he might be Sai-jin, or maybe Human, but he could have easily been some other similar race. Same pale skin color, dark hair, dark eyes, similar build and height. He didn't have a tail, and while his hair was a little wild looking it was also dark blue instead of black, but that really didn't tell him anything one way or the other.

As the man drew closer Morray got a better look at the emblem on his left breast plate. It wasn't just a circle, it looked like... like a golden dragon looped around and biting its own tail. Inside the circle created by the dragon was another shape, what looked like an orange letter V, outlined in black. He wasn't sure what any of it meant, though. He'd never seen an emblem like it before.

"Once we have accomplished our mission we will leave." the man continued.

"And just what is your mission?"

The man sighed and shrugged. "I think you have an idea." he said. "You can either cooperate, and make this easier on everyone, or we can do it the hard way."

"We wont let you just take what you want!" Torg said, green aura flaring up around him. There was a burst of wind as he surged in at the armored man, Shale following just behind him, but the man just sighed again and frowned.

"Hard way it is, I suppose." he said. He nimbly slipped around Torg's punch and then brought his elbow down into the back of the Namek's neck driving him face first into the ground and knocking him out. Turning, he then caught Shale's kick, stepped in, and head butted him. The green man slumped to the ground unconscious. "I'd hoped to keep this civilized. Well, I guess it can't be helped, then. We're on a schedule, after all. Men, get the Dragonballs!"

"Sir!" they all cried before suddenly blasting off in different directions. As they left the man turned his gaze back to Morray and crossed his arms.

"And now, we wait." he said.

XXX

Planet Vegeta

Two streaks surged across the open field. One was red, the other gold. Both were racing head long toward the other. When they made contact a moment later there was a rapid series of echoing cracks and bangs as the two individuals clashed once again. A few dozen yards away a small crowd had formed to watch what had begun as a simple spar. Technically, it was still a spar, but the boys were fiercely competitive by nature and so, of course, things had quickly escalated from powered down sparing to high level fighting.

"Kais, I swear these two are just as bad as their fathers." Vadora said, shaking her head as she watched the pair.

Beside her, Mango laughed. "They do seem to have the same habit of turning every training session into a contest to see who can take the most bruises and still remain conscious, don't they?"

Out over the field the two fighters had broken apart again and the one with the golden aura had turned, cupped his hands at his side, and then thrust his arms out as his voice called. "Kamehameha!" The wave of blue energy surged forward, directly at the other fighter, but the red aura remained where it was as the person within thrust their arms out to catch the attack. Just before the beam slammed into his hands that fighter's voice sounded as well.

"Kaio ken times five!" The individual's power suddenly leapt up and then the attack slammed into his hands and stopped dead. He gave a quick, effortless, shove and deflected the beam away from him and off into space.

"Hey!" the other called, ending his attack as his aura faded away and then vanished. His formerly tall and spiky blonde hair fell down into tangled black mess that reached down to just below his shoulder blades. It looked a lot like Raditz's hair would have if half had been cut off, and then he'd stuck his finger in a light socket. "That's no fair going up higher, we agreed we'd keep it even!"

The other sighed and let his aura fade as well. "Sorry, Torrak." he said. "I just reacted on instinct."

"Doesn't matter anyway, boys, it's time to head back!" Mango called up as the small crowd started to disperse.

"Aw, but mom!" Torrak cried, turning to face his mother. "We're not finished yet!"

"Yeah." the other said. "It's only four more years until the next Galactic Games. We've got to train hard if we want to make it in this time!"

"Sorry, Zukkino, but Mango's right." Vadora said. She understood their drive, though. Both boys had tried to make it into the second Galactic Games, held three years ago, but neither had made it into the main tournament. Mango and Raditz's son, Torrak, had had the bad fortune to be in the same entry block as Tien. Her Mate had shown, fourteen years ago, that simply being a Super Sai-jin didn't mean you could beat him, plus Torrak wasn't as powerful as Trunks had been back then. The boy hadn't had a chance.

Meanwhile, her and Tien's second child, Zukkino, had landed in the same entry block as his sister. Zukkino had proven early on that he was quite skilled, though not as much as Cheri. Plus, she had eight years of experience and training on him, so he hadn't stood a chance. But then, these days, there weren't very many people left in the galaxy who did stand a chance at beating Cheri. She had clearly demonstrated that three years ago when she'd beaten Prince Trunks in the quarter-finals, despite his revealing to the galaxy during that match that he'd ascended to the second level of Super Sai-jin.

There were only a handful of people who could compete with Cheri's power anymore. The girl drove herself harder than anyone else Vadora had ever seen. She had her father's zen approach to training, the drive to see how far she could push herself and see just what she could accomplish, and a burning love of battle from her Sai-jin blood. After defeating Trunks in the quarter-finals she'd faced Bardock in the semis, and even with him at Super Sai-jin the two had been almost evenly matched, and she'd almost won. Would have, had the elder Sai-jin not jumped to the second level.

And yet, despite how hard she trained, she still had not become a Super Sai-jin herself. Vadora continued to find it an odd thing to be surprised about, when just fifteen years ago being a Super Sai-jin was the surprising thing. These days, though, it seemed the opposite was true. Of course, with so many Super Sai-jins around now it was kind of understandable. Like Goten and Trunks before them several of the new generation of Sai-jins had been born able to transform. Torrak and his sister Zara, Gohan and Videl's daughter Pan, the Princess Bra, all born Super Sai-jins. The latter two even having access to the second level from birth. Between them and their families there were currently thirteen living Super Sai-jins.

But Vadora thought she understood why her daughter hadn't yet ascended. She didn't have that need that she'd heard was required. The last fourteen years had been peaceful. They hadn't seen a new Super Sai-jin, outside of births, since Raditz's transformation a few months after the Cell Games. There simply wasn't a need. Cheri didn't feel pressed to reach the level like Videl had during her training for the Cell Games, and she hadn't been backed into a corner like the others had. And because of those reasons, Vadora kind of hoped her daughter never did transform, because it would mean her daughter's life had never been threatened.

"Planet Vegeta to mom!" Zukkino said, waving a hand in front of Vadora's face. The Sai-jin started and then shook her head to clear it. She'd gotten so lost in her thoughts on the flight back to the palace that she'd completely spaced out and not heard her son.

"What is it, Zukkino?"

"I was asking if we could take a shuttle to Earth tomorrow." said the bald boy. He wasn't naturally bald, but when he was six he'd asked if he could shave his head like his father. Considering he was half Human, and thus his hair wasn't as easily controlled as a full Sai-jin's (sure, their hair was wild, but it never grew or changed) they'd agreed to let him. He'd been making monthly appointments to have it shaved ever since. "Torrak and I want to go to the concert and the premiere."

Vadora didn't have to ask what concert or premiere he meant. There was only one major concert tour happening right now that the two boys cared about in the slightest, and only one premiere that could be called related. "Didn't you go to the concert in Saiya City last month?" she asked. "I seem to remember you spending nearly eight hundred Zenni on snacks."

"Yeah, but the tickets and backstage passes Mijima gave us are for the entire tour." Zukkino said. "She told us we could come to any concert we wanted. Plus, Cheri and Pan are going to the premiere, and then to the concert on Earth the day after."

Torrak nodded. "We thought it would be even more fun with more friends." he said. "And how often is someone we know in a movie? Even just as a voice?"

"I don't like the idea of you boys going all the way to Earth by yourselves." Mango said, frowning.

"Oh, come on mom!" Torrak cried. "It's not like we'd be in any danger."

"And we're thirteen now. We're not little kids anymore."

"And what about Zara?" asked Mango.

"What about her?" the boys said in unison.

"Who would watch her on this trip?"

"I dunno. You or dad, I guess?" Torrak said, clearly not getting his mother's implication.

"Look, we'll talk about it later." Vadora said as she started her descent to land at the palace. "They're not for another week yet, you don't have to leave right this minute."

"But..."

"No." Mango cut in. "Vadora's right. We'll talk about it later. You boys go get cleaned up for supper. We don't need you dripping blood all over the dinning hall again."

"Fine." they said, taking off down one of the halls, heading for their quarters in the palace. As the two boys raced off the women made their way toward the dinning hall. They weren't covered in blood and sweat, no reason to delay their meal. When they arrived they found the large room already filled nearly to bursting with palace staff. Though they quickly noticed it didn't seem as boisterous as usual.

The pair scanned the crowds and soon spotted their mates sitting at one of the tables, as well as Vadora's daughter Zara, and worked their way over to them. Toma and Tangerie were also with them, as well as the pair's twelve year old son Taro. The two kids sat apart from the their parents having what was probably the most spirited conversation in the room. As the women drew closer Mango noted that Raditz wasn't even eating, just using his fork to roll a boiled egg back and forth on his plate, which was still piled with food.

"What's up?" she asked, taking a seat beside him.

"You two haven't heard, yet?" Tien asked. Raditz kept his eyes on his plate and the egg he was playing with, looking glum, as one of the servers arrived and placed plates down for Vadora and Mango.

"Heard what?" asked Vadora.

"It's Senator Vegeta." Raditz said. "They... made the announcement about an hour ago."

"Announcement? What announcement?" asked Mango.

"He's stepping down from the Senate." said Tien. "Effective immediately. His Quickening has started."

Vadora blinked a few times, then looked around the room again seeing the quieter and more sober crowd in a new light. Unlike other races, such as the Humans and Tanarians, which declined gradually pretty much as soon as they reached their peaks, Sai-jins stayed in peak condition until they simply couldn't anymore. It put a lot of strain on their bodies for them to stay in their prime for so long. Sai-jin power, and their prolonged state of physical power and youth, was a double edged sword.

Because once the body reached its limit the Quickening began. It started with a stagnation of power. No matter how much they trained they would be unable to get stronger. Not too long after that their power would begin to decline, despite any efforts to maintain or increase it. It wouldn't be long after that that the Sai-jin's health would begin to rapidly deteriorate, their body to fail. The aging process that took Humans decades to complete would occur over mere months. It usually began sometime in a Sai-jin's seventies, occasionally late sixties, and the rate of decline depended largely on the amount of power a Sai-jin had, and for how long. No Sai-jin was known to have ever lived beyond eighty-two.

Senator Vegeta was getting old, he was in his early seventies now. Everyone had known, somewhere in their minds they'd all known his time was coming, but... Somehow it was still unexpected. They'd all lived under his rule for so long. Their people had flourished under his leadership, rising up from just a few worlds to galactic influence. Most of them couldn't even remember a time when the former King wasn't in power, either on Planet Vegeta or within the Senate.

Vadora glanced down at her plate and stared at her food and realized her appetite had nearly gone, even as Mango lowered her fork back down to her own plate with the piece of steak she'd been about to eat still on the end. A moment ago they'd been starving, ready to stuff their faces with a few dozen pounds of whatever was set before them. Now their food had lost most of its appeal. The Senator couldn't be Quickening already. Sure, he was old enough, but... he'd just seemed like such a permanent fixture among their people.

Though Raditz wasn't thinking about just the Senator. His mind was also on his parents. If they hadn't spent seven years dead they'd have likely had their Quickening already. As it was, they were both likely to be close. If he'd done his math right his father was physically sixty-eight. His mother seventy-two. Just a year younger than the senator. Her lower birth power likely meant a later onset and longer period to her Quickening, though that wasn't a guarantee. Especially since she'd pushed so far beyond what she'd ever been expected to reach. Even so, he figured both would Quicken within the next five years and it... was an unsettling thought.

Almost twenty minutes later when Zukkino and Torrak arrived in the dinner hall and joined them at their table Raditz was still rolling his egg back and forth on his plate, Vadora was just staring at hers, and Mango was tapping her fork against the edge of hers. Not one of them had taken so much as a single bite. Only Tien's plate was missing food, but even his was only half empty. He may not have been a Sai-jin but he'd lived on their world, with them, for long enough that even he felt some sense of loss over the news.

It was only a few moments later that a sudden ripple of activity spread through the room, catching their attentions. The adults turned to gaze across the room, toward the originating area of the noise, and saw that the royal family had entered the room. They were all taking seats at the large table reserved for them and their VIP guests. Today there were no guests, just the seven royals.

The first to enter had been the Elder Vegeta, looking no different to the probing eyes of the Sai-jins in the room than he had before, despite their new knowledge. Next had been his son, the younger Vegeta and still current King of the Sai-jin people. After that had come Queen Bulma, only fifty-five but still looking a few years older than the former King and Senator. After her came her youngest child, the eleven year old Princess Bra, her hair dyed the same green her mother had once used. Next had been her older brother, the next King of the Sai-jin race, Trunks. Following him had been his Mate, and the future Queen of the Sai-jins, the former Tanarian royal, Sakura.

And holding on to Sakura's hand, trailing along behind his mother, the two year old Prince Hadagi. The new Prince displayed an interesting mix of his heritage. He had his father's blue eyes, his mother's silver hair color, but his Grandfather and Great Grandfather's hair style, standing straight up into a single point. It also had the Sai-jin trait of not changing, it had remained exactly the same without any help for the last year and a half. As the first half Human, quarter Tanarian, quarter Sai-jin no one was quite sure what to expect from the young Prince. Though so far he hadn't displayed any ability to transform, either into a Super Sai-jin or Super Tanarian.

While most of the family took their seats at the table the ex-senator stepped around to stand between the table and the crowd in the room. As he did the volume quickly dropped below even a whisper. Even the kids quieted, though it took them a moment longer than the rest. They weren't quite sure what was going on, those that had heard the news hadn't been impacted quite the same way as their parents.

"No doubt," the elder Vegeta began. "You have all heard by now of my... retirement. The doctor's tell me I have two, maybe three more months, so don't go looking like you're at a funeral already. I'm not in the ground yet." There were a few weak laughs from around the room as the man pressed on. "I have been blessed more than any Sai-jin before me, to have witnessed our people rise to such heights. Even I never dreamed we could go so far in my life time."

Suddenly he snorted and glanced back at those behind him. "Or that I would actually be King for so long. I had started to worry you weren't sure what to do, and that the line would die with you, Vegeta. It's nice to see my grandson is better with the ladies, and not so slow at producing an heir!" This time the laughter was bright and strong, almost as bright and strong as the red glow that had suddenly colored Trunks's face.

His mate, however, was not quite so self-conscious. "You're welcome!" Sakura called, causing the laughter to increase in volume.

Vegeta turned his focus back toward the rest of those in the room. "I am proud of every single one of you, and honored to have served you for so long. And if you have any respect for me, I ask you to honor my last request." He paused for a moment, then smirked as he spoke, voice as loud and strong and commanding as ever. "Stop being so damned gloomy while I'm still sucking air, it's depressing!"

There was another round of laughter, and then someone raised their mug and called a toast. "To the best damn King we've ever had! Vegeta the Great!"

"Vegeta the Great!" the crowd responded, raising their mugs as well. And suddenly, just like that, the mood in the room became almost like normal. Boisterous conversations, the occasional handful of food flying through the air, and plate after empty plate piling up at the ends of tables. But the tone was still a few decibels lower, the food thrown with a little less enthusiasm, and the plates a little slower to pile up.

XXX

Planet Namek

Morray knelt next to the two downed Nameks unsure of what to do. Neither was badly injured, they'd recover just fine before long, but they were clearly no match for these invaders. And his worries when he'd seen them had proven to be well founded, whoever they were they were after the Dragonballs. Planet Namek was certainly an easier target than Earth. He was concerned what wishes they intended, his only solace the knowledge that they could make no wishes without knowing the Namekian language.

And so the two of them had waited, Morray keeping watch over the two warriors, and the armored man standing as still as a statue. The Elder had watched him for the last several minutes and realized he was half focused on the village around him and half focused on the ear piece he wore, likely receiving updates from his men in their pursuit of the Dragonballs. He'd wondered if he could use that to his advantage somehow, make a move while the man was distracted, but if Torg and Shale had lacked the power to stop him he wouldn't have a chance either.

"Who are you people?" Morray asked after a while. "You wear armor like that issued by the Sennari, but you're clearly not with the Sennari."

"You're right, we're not." the man said. "Hmm, I suppose it is rude not to introduce myself, isn't it? I am Prince Daiz, former heir to the Throne of Kernall, before my brother decided that if he couldn't have the throne, no one could."

"What do you mean?" Morray asked.

"When his insurrection failed he unleashed a super disease on the entire population. If Queen Raven's people hadn't chanced across us when they did my entire world would have perished. Their medicines saved my people, what was left of them."

"Is... that why you're here?" Morray asked, thinking maybe he understood what these men wanted Porunga for. "To restore your people?"

Daiz smiled a little and shrugged. "Perhaps." he said. "But not quite how you think. There is nothing your Dragon can do for my people. They are beyond his reach."

/Beyond his reach?/ Morray thought, confused. As far as he was aware there was nothing beyond the reach of Porunga. And if he wasn't planning to use his wishes to restore his people then what... His thoughts trailed off as he noticed Daiz turn and look behind him. Following the man's gaze he saw numerous sparks of light rapidly approaching and as they drew closer he saw that two of the men carried Dragonballs. He worried what these men may have done to claim them, the village elders who watched over the Dragonballs wouldn't have simply handed them over.

A moment later nearly three dozen men landed, two of them laying the three star and seven star Dragonballs and Daiz's feet. The other men then stepped back, standing some distance away from the group. Morray looked them all over once more, trying to see what he could learn from them. Of the thirty four individuals he could see only nine of them resembled Daiz enough to be of the same race, some of the survivors he'd mentioned. The others had differences that set them apart. Red skin or horns or different body shapes.

Looking them over he figured there were maybe eight races present. Who knew how many races made up the entire force. He wondered if perhaps they shared similar stories, if this Daiz had gathered them all together for... Whatever wish he intended to make. Something that would help to restore his people, and perhaps theirs as well?

His focus was drawn to his left an instant later as he caught a flash of light from the corner of his eye. Another group of men had arrived and another Dragonball was set on the ground. The two star ball. These men were gathering the Dragonballs incredibly fast. Too fast to be simply chance. They couldn't have scouted them in advance, either. The Dragonballs were moved from village to village every few months for security purposes. They had to have some means of tracking them, some kind of device like the one the Earthlings had invented.

It took maybe forty minutes for the rest of the men to return, each group bringing back a Dragonball. Less than an hour after these men had arrived they'd already gathered all seven Dragonballs. Morray stared at them laying on the ground, gathered together for the first time in fourteen years. As the last was laid with the rest and they began to faintly glow and pulse he turned his attention to Daiz.

"I wont help you." he said. "Whatever your wish, whatever your reasons, this is not the way."

"Sadly, it's the only way." Daiz said. "Because my wishes, my reasons, would never be accepted."

"And we have no need of your help." a new voice intoned. It was deep and gruff and belonged to someone new who had just landed beside Daiz. He was considerably different than any of the others he'd seen. Morray had only a few seconds to take in his appearance, and the third eye, and then the creature was rippling, its features shifting, and a second later Morray was staring wide-eyed... at himself. It wasn't a perfect copy, it still had the helmet-like green bone covering the top of his head, the large black horns, and the third eye. But otherwise, it was him.

"General Ozotto." Daiz said, bowing to the creature as it turned from Morray to face the Dragonballs.

"Have your men move back, Daiz." General Ozotto said, revealing that his voice was another thing that had not changed. "We need more space."

Daiz nodded and motioned to his men. They all quickly moved back another hundred feet, giving Ozotto and the Dragonballs more room. Daiz did not join them, however, but moved to stand beside Morray. He did not wish to knock the man out if he did not have to, but he had to make sure that he did not disrupt the wishes. Either by dismissing Porunga or making his own. Once the area was clear Ozotto raised his arms and smiled.

"Arise, Porunga!" he called, speaking, to Morray's shock and dismay, in perfect Namekian, and the balls flashed as the sky darkened. An instant later energy surged out of them, shooting toward the darkened sky above. The men gathered around gasped in surprise and awe, many of them unconsciously taking steps backward, away from the emerging Dragon. A few seconds later the energy reached its apex and solidified. A moment later Porunga's thundering voice sounded over the lands.

"I shall grant any three wishes within my power. Speak them now and they shall be done."

Ozotto's smile grew as he stared up at the creature above him. "Porunga!" he called up. "For my first wish..."

XXX

A/N: Because of the number of new kids introduced in this chapter I feel I should add a quick reference guide here to help everyone keep them straight. So, here you go:

Taro - The 12 year old son of Toma and Tangerie.  
Torrak - The 13 year old son of Raditz and Mango. Born a Super Sai-jin.  
Zara - The 11 year old daughter of Raditz and Mango. Born a Super Sai-jin.  
Zukkino - The 13 year old son of Tien and Vadora.  
Hadagi - The 2 year old son of Trunks and Sakura.

Also, as a side note, I've changed the birth dates and ages of Pan and Bra. Due to the altered flow of history they've both been born sooner than in the original series, and were born only a few days apart from each other, making them both 11. They were also both born with access to Super Sai-jin 2. 


	2. The Broadcast

A/N: Holy hell, folks. I want to apologize for the insane 14 month delay in getting this posted. My computer decided to start being extremely temperamental shortly after posting the first chapter. I've recovered all of my files but... I can't actually access the data files where all my power levels and story outlines are stored, and without those I can't actually make new content. BUT I think I may have a fix soon, and may be able to resume in earnest. For now, however, I can at least give you this chapter so that it feels like some progress is being made.

Also, the pun/parody at the end of the first paragraph came out of nowhere. And I love it. That is all.

Chapter Two - The Broadcast

"Next up we have the latest on the on going Senate debate over the Genetic Security Act, and its implications for the galaxy at large." a female voice was saying, echoing and tinny as it sounded from numerous speakers set up across Capital Square. "After that, we'll speak to the young woman whose name is quickly becoming known throughout the galaxy as perhaps one of the most popular performers of all time. We'll talk about her meteoric rise to fame and her up coming film debut in the all new Dizzy Waltz movie, Molten."

Capital City liked to be kept up to date on galactic events, so the six massive screens that dominated the square were always tuned to GNN and the audio pumped into the stores, cafes, and restaurants that ringed the busy space. Videl and her daughter Pan where at one of those cafes waiting on some friends to show, watching the GNN broadcast. Normally, Videl didn't bother to watch the news. She'd learn anything that was actually important from Piccolo. But she had a friend on today, for something other than fighting. That... didn't happen often.

"I can't wait for the premiere!" Pan said, grinning, before taking another large bite out of her cheeseburger. "I've watched the trailers like, a thousand times."

Videl laughed. "I never thought I'd see you star struck." she said. "Especially not by someone who used to baby-sit you."

Pan shrugged. "I just think it's awesome that someone I know is going to be in a movie." she said. "That's all. It's not th... Uncle Goten!" she suddenly cried.

Videl turned her attention back toward one of the large screens in the plaza and caught a half second glimpse of her brother-in-law on the screen. He looked... interesting in a suit and tie, and sunglasses. And somehow the fancy attire didn't seem to clash with his crazy wild hair. As a boy it had looked much like his father's, largely because it had been cut short enough to hold its shape, but still long enough to take that shape. Now it was cut even shorter which resulted in what Chi-Chi had come to call the 'pineapple head' look. Still, Videl thought it looked better than the long shaggy mess he'd had a few years ago.

"Uncle Goten's lucky, he gets to go to everything." Pan said, sighing. "Every single appearance and concert. Did you know he's got a balcony seat for the premiere?"

"It suits him." Videl said, grinning wryly. Goten had always been the most... laid back of the kids. And while that made it odd that he was the only one of them with a real job, his choice of work made a lot of sense given his personality. He barely had to do anything, got to lay back and relax and have fun most of the time, and got paid for it. And according to Chi-Chi, he got paid a LOT for it.

If Goten was stuck at the studio Videl hoped Cheri would still be able to make it to this little get together. She'd been traveling with him across the galaxy for the last three months, going where the tour, and his job, took him. Videl had gotten used to Cheri being around before that, the woman had practically been living at the Son Home over the last year, and she missed having another woman to talk to. Chi-Chi was... well, she was Chi-Chi. She couldn't talk to her mother-in-law as easily as she could Cheri.

And Cheri understood what it was like to be a half Sai-jin, and one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. Someone that everyone else looked to when things went wrong. Not much had in the last fourteen years, and for that Videl was grateful, but the galaxy had its share of problems. Even after all this time there were still anti-Sennari dissidents, would be despots, and other issues that cropped up. The Sennari Defense Force, or SDF, was perfectly capable of handling these issues without Videl, or any of the others, becoming directly involved.

The related political issues, however, always came back to her or Piccolo or, in more recent years, Cheri. Piccolo's imposing presence and demeanor had quickly become the face of the SDF, so when something went wrong somewhere he was frequently caught in the center. Videl and Cheri were not active within the SDF themselves, though both had registered as reservists, but they were outspoken when it came to Sennari policy and military action. That made them the most accessible high level facets of the Sennari to a lot of people. As such they were often the ones people targeted, either with complaints and rants about everything they were doing wrong, or pleas for help and assistance in some matter.

"This seat taken?" a voice suddenly asked from near-by, snapping Videl out of her reverie. She turned to look, but it was her daughter who spoke up.

"Aunt Cheri!" Pan cried, as she jumped to her feet and gave the five and a half foot tall woman a hug. Pan had also gotten used to Cheri being around a lot, and had added the 'aunt' title to her name almost six months ago. The woman hadn't changed much in the last few months. Even now she was still wearing her dark green full body suit under her dark blue gi, white belt tied around her waist, despite the fact she was simply out having lunch with some friends. She was as bad as Goku, almost never out of 'uniform.'

"I'm glad you could make it." Videl said, as Cheri gave Pan a one armed hug. "It's been a while, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm good." the woman replied, ending the hug with Pan and casually reaching down and snatching a few fries from Videl's plate. The motion didn't go unnoticed, but it wasn't the hand that caught Videl's attention, or the stolen fries that made her eyes widen. It was the sparking glint of light, the flash of the large gem on her finger.

"Cheri, is that...?" Videl started, motioning to the ring.

The woman grinned, the smile lighting up her entire face. "Like?" she asked.

"That's... that's an engagement ring!" Videl said, taking hold of her hand to get a better look at the gem.

"Yup. Goten gave it to me a couple nights ago." she said. "Apparently it's the entire reason he went into the bodyguard business."

"That's huge." Pan said, wide-eyed and leaning across the table to look at it.

"Seven carats." Cheri said, shrugging. "I think it's a little... ostentatious, myself. But at the same time, well, you can't argue with a stone like that."

"No, you certainly can't." Videl said, shaking her head, still mesmerized by the stone.

"Yeah, but that had to cost a ton of money." said Pan. "Just how much is Mijima paying Uncle Goten?"

"Well, considering it's her daughter he's protecting, likely a small fortune." Cheri said.

"More likely a large fortune." corrected Videl. "She's... extremely protective of Marron."

"That's putting it lightly." agreed Cheri. "So... um, can I have my hand back, now? It's kind of the only one I have, so it's hard to eat without it."

"Oh, uh, sorry." Videl said as she released the woman's hand, even as her eyes darted, for a split second, to the stump at the end of Cheri's left arm. She'd lost it fourteen years ago, saving her friend Sakura's life. It hadn't been restored by the wish they'd made on Shenron to fix the damage caused by the imbalance, and the girl had opted not to have it wished back later. She'd even turned down the robotic prosthetic that Bulma had offered to make her. When asked why, all she'd ever said was that things should have a price, or they lost meaning. Cheri just shrugged and then snatched some more fries off of Videl's plate as she sat down at the table.

"So, where's Gohan?" Cheri asked, before stuffing the fries in her mouth. "Isn't he supposed to be here, too?"

Videl sighed. "Supposed to be. But Gohan called earlier saying he got lost in his work. Again. Said it would be at least another two or three hours before he could get away." She sighed again, picked up a few fries, and ate them. "Honestly, I love that he's so smart and so dedicated, and it's cute the way he can get lost in his own world while he's working, but... I... I don't know. This is far from the first time he's been late for something. I'm thinking it's genetic, Goku's the same way when he's out training."

"Ah, it's not so bad." said Cheri. "I'd take a few minutes late over Goten's... indifference when it comes to training."

"A few minutes?" Pan asked, raising her eyebrows and laughing. "I thought you'd been living with us most of the last year. Dad was three DAYS late to my last birthday party. He'd started on a new project and completely lost track of time. No windows in his office, you know."

"Still," Cheri began. "I'd prefer that. I mean, Goten would be lucky to have even a quarter of his power if it wasn't for me always pushing him and making him train with me. At least Gohan takes his training seriously. Hell, he won the last Galactic Games. Actually beat Goku in the semis, and then Bardock in the finals."

Videl grinned a little. "That he did." she said. "And I've never seen Goku so happy."

Cheri didn't doubt that. Goku loved a good fight, and to him winning wasn't all that important. In fact, she was pretty sure he liked losing more than winning, as it meant he'd had a challenging fight and that the rematch would be just as good.

"So, what's Gohan working on now?" Cheri asked.

"I'm... not really sure." Videl admitted. "When he talks about work there's so much technical jargon in it that I get lost and confused pretty quickly."

"He's working on the OS for those space probes." said Pan.

"Space Probes?" Videl wondered. "You mean the ones they want to send to the east and west galaxies?"

Pan nodded. "Yeah. Dad was asked to code the operating system for them."

"I didn't realize they were at that stage already." Cheri said.

"Dad says the computers and stuff are ready, but the engines aren't, and the whole project is probably still a decade away from being ready."

"Well, at least he's getting a head start, then." Cheri said as she shook her head, looked out the window at the screen across the plaza, and then frowned. The headline across the bottom of the screen read: 'Senate expected to pass Genetic Security Act tomorrow.' "I can't believe how much backing that thing is getting." she muttered.

Videl glanced at the screen to see what Cheri was talking about, then nodded. "Even though it's been twenty-one years, people are still nervous because of Cell. What happened on Moreau a few years ago didn't help. That entire world was destroyed and it's still a quarantined Class 1 biohazard."

Cheri nodded. There had been a legitimate medical research project occurring on the planet. They'd been trying to re-engineer an existing virus into a communicable cure for a deadly and fairly common genetic disorder among their people. Something had gone wrong and there had been a containment breech, releasing an unfinished and extremely deadly version of the virus. It had spread across the entire planet, infecting everything. Nothing, not a single organism on the planet, had been immune.

It attacked the DNA of those infected, injecting junk DNA into their genes, resulting in random and out of control mutations and genetic breakdown. All life on the planet had been dead within eight months. Cheri remembered seeing images and videos of those infected and they hadn't been pleasant. The lucky ones had died quickly, the others... Well, it was a horrible way to go. And probes sent down to the world indicated that the virus wasn't gone, just laying dormant, waiting for new victims.

The Genetic Security Act, or GSA, had been stalled in the senate before the Moreau incident. There had been a lot of debate over the scope and range of the bill. It pretty much banned the entire field of genetic science. The votes hadn't been there to support it before, because people could still see the good that could come from genetics work. Now, all they could see was the horror.

"Well, then, isn't it a good thing?" asked Pan. "I remember the news stories about Moreau. Everyone there died."

"This is over doing it, though." Cheri said, looking over to the girl. "What happened on Moreau was awful, but the GSA will end more lives than it will save. It bans nearly everything related to genetic research, including legitimate research into cures for genetic diseases. Project LifeGuard, that non-profit that started up a few years ago to help inter-species families have healthy children, will have to close, because their methods and research will become illegal. It'll also make Capsule Corps' current research into improving the Regeneration Tank technology illegal, which is why Mijima and Krillin went before the Senate last month to speak against the bill."

"But... that's..." Pan started, looking from Cheri and back at the screen in the plaza. She could hear the anchors over the speakers overhead. They were still talking about how dangerous genetic research and manipulation could be, how it could lead to another Moreau, or a creature even more powerful and dangerous than Cell.

XXX

Orange Star City

Goten sighed as he leaned against the wall and stared out at the news set. He was anxious to get out of the studio, so that he could get out of the suit. He hated suits. If he'd wanted to wear suits he'd have gotten a job as... someone who had to wear suits all the time. But, when he was at a public appearance like this, it was 'professional' to be in a suit. A concert, on the other hand, was a much more laid back situation and he could get away with a t-shirt and jeans.

Though, honestly, if the suit hadn't been Mijima's order he'd not be wearing it at all. 'Professionalism' wasn't exactly high on his priorities list. And fighting in a suit was a pain. But it didn't matter that his maximum power was, like, twenty times hers. Mijima was a scary woman and Goten preferred not to upset her. He just felt like he'd live longer if he stayed on her good side. Besides, she was the one who paid him. Paid him like, whoa, so much money. No reason to risk that. So, he was in a suit.

The sunglasses, however, he was perfectly happy with. Bulma had made them for him when he told her about his job. They looked like normal glasses but they had all kinds of special features. There was a scouter built into them, which meant he could track powers without having to stay a hundred percent focused all the time, and could detect and track non-ki energy forms. The on-board computer was also linked into every device carried by Marron's entourage, allowing him access to any data he needed.

He could easily track anyone's location by their phones, access Marron's itinerary, check his e-mail, check her fan mail, and recieve message alerts from Mijima if anything should come up. It even had a built in closed-network communications system. On top of that it had vision filters allowing him to see thermal or infrared. Plus it had facial recognition that let him easily and quickly identify people in crowds and determine if they were a possible risk.

Most people would assume that all that functionality was overkill. And maybe it was, but it was overkill prompted by legitimate concerns. The entire reason Mijima had hired him was because Marron had started receiving threatening mail. It had started off as just creepy over obsessed fan stuff, then went well beyond creepy and into the realm of disturbing and disgusting. And then, when Marron never wrote back, it turned violent.

And that was just one of the nuts who'd latched onto Marron since she'd launched into stardom almost two years ago. There were others. According to Bulma's prose analysis algorithms, there were at least twelve people who were... unhealthily obsessed with her. Only three of them had been identified, their pictures added to the facial recognition in his glasses incase they ever showed at one of her appearances, which left nine nuts unaccounted for.

On top of that Marron was, of course, Krillin and Mijima's daughter. Mijima had taken over the running of Capsule Corp. with Bulma off being Queen on Planet Vegeta, she was friends with Nova, the Changeling Queen, and both she and Krillin were friends with multiple key members of the Sennari. As such, Marron made an... enticing target to would be ransomers, people with political agendas, and other would be problem makers with too few brain cells to realize that angering Mijima was a stupidly bad idea.

The fact that Marron had already been kidnapped once as a child, because of such criminal interests, certainly didn't help to set her mother's mind at ease. Goten could still remember when Mijima had learned about that following the Demon War. Sakura had gotten into the most trouble, having been the oldest, but he, Trunks, and Cheri had all gotten lectured, grounded, and otherwise punished for having snuck off on their own and thus enabling the kidnapping. Akemi had been the only one to get away with just a light slap on the wrist, as it were, since she'd only been five.

Goten's bored musings were broken a moment later as he heard activity picking up around him. Looking back out at the studio he saw that Marron had taken her seat on the stage, three of the shows anchors were seated across from her. The support crew was buzzing around the stage making sure the lighting was right, the cameras were right, everyone's make-up was good, and so on. A moment later the crews moved aside, Marron and the anchors started to smile, and then the go signal was given.

"Welcome back to Galaxy Report on GNN." the anchor in the middle, the only woman of the three, said. She had blonde hair and green eyes, or were they blue? Goten really hadn't been paying attention. He thought her name might be Eliza, or Arissa, though he wasn't sure about that either. She was also wearing what was probably the ugliest yellow pantsuit he'd ever seen. It hurt his eyes just to look at it. Mixed with her blonde hair she looked like a giant banana. Fortunately, the men on either side were in much dimmer colors. The one on the left had on a beige suit and the other a dark blue one. He couldn't remember their names at all.

"Up next," the woman continued. "We have a special guest in our studio. At only age seventeen she already has a double platinum album and she's voicing one of the lead characters in the up coming Dizzy Waltz feature film, Molten. Welcome to the studio, Marron."

"Hey, Erasa." Marron said, her grin growing. "It's so amazing to be here."

"Galaxy Report must seem like such small potatoes to you at this point." said one of the male anchors. "You've performed in some of the biggest venues in the entire galaxy."

"I'm still absorbing it all." Marron replied with a short laugh. "It hasn't been all that long, you know? It still feels like I'm just this random kid. It's still weird when people see me on the street and know who I am, or being on shows like this to talk about what I'm doing."

"Even with your parents being who they are, and the friends you grew up with?" asked Erasa.

Marron shrugged. "My parents always kept me out of the spotlight as a kid, after mom took over running the day to day stuff at Capsule Corp. for Bulma. And as a kid, you know, you never really think about things like royalty. It was just this word that people threw around about some of my friends, and it wasn't until years later that I realized what it really meant, or that my life growing up was all that different from anyone else's."

"So, as we said, you've performed at venues all across the galaxy. Do have a favorite one, or a favorite performance?"

Marron thought for a moment, then smiled a little and nodded. "You know, I think my first one is still my favorite."

"At the second Galactic Games, you mean?" asked the other male anchor. "Singing the new Sennari anthem?"

Marron nodded. "Yeah. I was, geez, only fourteen at the time, and it was just so amazing. And it was so spur of the moment, which was great."

"You replaced the singer originally scheduled, correct?" asked the first guy.

"Yeah. She'd come down sick and couldn't perform." Marron answered. "Everyone was kind of in a panic about it. I guess, after everything that happened at the first Games, they wanted to make sure this one went perfectly."

"So who's idea was it for you to sing?" asked Erasa.

"Oh, that was Goten's doing." Marron replied instantly, and Goten smirked. It had, indeed, been his idea. He hadn't even known she could sing until a few weeks before the Games. They'd arrived early for some pre-Games celebrations and he'd gone in search of Cheri. While walking through the Sai-jin palace he'd heard someone singing, followed the voice to the source, and it had turned out to be Marron. And she'd been amazing. So, when they needed a replacement, he'd suggested her.

It had taken a little coaxing but, eventually, she agreed, and an hour later she'd gone out and blown away the entire crowd. Including some talent scout guy that had been there. The scout managed to get in touch with her and her parents, she'd made a demo, and the label he worked for hired her. Just over a year later her first album hit the shelves, and then flew off them like crazy. And that, as they say, had been that.

Out on the set Marron was talking about her involvement in the upcoming movie. How she'd always been a fan of the Dizzy Waltz movies growing up, and when her agent heard about the casting calls for the new one he'd gotten her in for one of the small parts. Then about how shocked and elated she was when she learned she'd not gotten a small part, but the lead role.

Goten was half paying attention to the interview, which had already paused twice for commercial breaks, and half watching the data feeds on his glasses, keeping an eye on what was happening around them. So, when the first sign of something amiss started, he caught it. He had the live broadcast of Marron's interview playing in a small window in the upper left corner of his vision, and it suddenly stuttered and broke for a second. The image cleared, then froze, broke, and resumed again.

At first, he thought it was just his signal in the glasses, but then he noticed the exact same disruption on a monitor in the studio. It was also displaying a live feed of the interview, likely so those on set could see what the public was seeing. When the picture broke a third time, distorted, bent, filled with static, and then seemed to fade part way into a second image before returning to normal, he moved away from the wall and snapped to attention. He wasn't sure what was up but it was possible someone in the area was attempting to jack the signal, and if so they could be a threat.

A moment later the broadcast froze again, the audio cut out, and then the image began to distort and break down once more, like some other signal was trying to override it. By now, the others in the studio had noticed as well, and the tech crew was scurrying about looking for a cause while the anchors were apologizing for 'technical difficulties.' Meanwhile Goten had shoved his right hand into his pocket and slipped a small blue ring onto his index finger.

Pulling his hand out of his pocket he raised it up and started manipulating the holographic display of his glasses with his hand, the ring working as an identifier so the computer knew to use his hand motions as control. He quickly pushed aside all the irrelevant data and brought up the signal tracker. He'd just started attempting to trace the signal back to its point of origin when the image on the monitors suddenly cleared up again. Only now, it wasn't the interview they were showing.

Instead, it was a static image of some sort of symbol. It was golden, on a black background, and looked like a snake, or maybe a dragon, looped around in a circle and biting its own tail. Goten didn't recognize it or know what it meant, but in the center of the circle created by the dragon was another shape, one that he did know. It was, quite clearly, the emblem of the Sai-jin royal family. And that... made no sense.

After a couple of seconds the symbol vanished and was replaced by a headshot of a woman with black eyes and wild black hair. She looked rather attractive, and somehow looked familiar even though Goten knew he'd never met her before, but there was something about her eyes. Something about the way she was gazing out of the monitor at them that just gave him the shivers. The audio suddenly cut back in an instant later, full of static at first but it slowly cleared and the woman spoke.

XXX

West City

Krillin checked the settings again, for probably the tenth time in an hour, to make sure everything was set right. Galaxy Report had just promoed his daughter's interview as coming up after the commercials, and Mijima wasn't back from her meeting yet. The board of directors had demanded a meeting to discuss the impending passage of the GSA and what, exactly, it would do to the company's bottom line. Which, quite frankly, was not much.

The genetic work for the new generation Regen Tanks was only a small facet of the corporation's budget and projected earnings. And so far they'd only spent around a billion Zenni on the research and development, not even a tenth of a percent of Capsule Corp.'s liquid assets. Nothing else the company was involved in was in any way related to genetics work, and nearly three quarters of their profits came from capsule sales. The GSA wouldn't effect their bottom line in the least.

Which was why Mijima had been so pissed when she'd received notice of the meeting the day before. She'd tried to explain this to the panicking board members over the phone, had tried to at least delay the meeting until the following day, but the board wouldn't have it. They insisted the meeting would go on as scheduled, with or without her. And without her wasn't going to happen, because then when they did something stupid she wouldn't be there to overrule them.

He knew she'd want to see the interview, and that she wouldn't have time to make it to Orange Star before it ended at this point, so he was going to record it. At least then she could watch it when she got the time. So, reassured that everything appeared to be connected the way it was supposed to be, Krillin pushed the RECORD button on the remote just as the commercials came to an end, then sat back with a bag of potato chips to watch the interview himself.

He still couldn't believe it. Killer aliens, time travel, killer androids, demon invasions, and now a galaxy famous pop-star turned movie star daughter. It seemed his life never stopped being strange. But, he was proud, and glad she'd not turned out to be a fighter. Not that Mijima would have let her, mind, but still. All the threats they'd faced over the years, it was nice to know that whatever was yet to come wouldn't see her out in the thick of it.

He was half way through his bag of chips when the broadcast first distorted. When at last the new signal overpowered the one from GNN the woman spoke, gave her name, and the bag of chips fell to the floor with a dull thump spilling its contents over the carpet. How long had it been since he'd first heard her name? More than two decades, at least, and now here she was, in the flesh. Well, sort of. Despite the chill going down his spine at the look in her eyes she wasn't as scary as he'd expected. But then, if Mijima had taught him anything, it was that looks could be deceiving.

The broadcast had only been going on for a few seconds when he reached over to the table beside him and grabbed the phone. Three quick button presses later and the line was ringing. One ring, half of another, then the click of an active connection. Before the person on the other end could speak, he did. "Turn the TV on. Now."

XXX

Capsule Corp.

Mijima pinched the bridge of her nose and gritted her teeth in frustration. These people just would not shut-up, nor would they listen. It had been one absurd doomsday scenario after another about how the GSA could bankrupt the company. Several of the board didn't seem to grasp the concept of 'future research' either, and were insistent that the GSA would outlaw even existing genetics related technology, thus crippling the entire medical division of the company.

She'd called Bulma and talked to her about it yesterday, the other woman had been much better at handling these people than she was. She'd offered some help, and told Mijima that if things didn't look like they were going anywhere she could call her on Planet Vegeta and she'd speak to them herself. The cyborg was seriously considering that at this point. If she didn't do something she was likely to either have a mental break down or blast one of them into atoms.

She'd just lowered her hand from her face and was about to interrupt the man who was speaking, to effectively call him a moron, when the phone on the conference table rang. Not the normal ring of an incoming call but the shrill buzzing sound of an emergency call. At the same time the red light indicating her personal line started blinking. Mijima quickly leaned forward and jabbed the answer button, but before she could ask what was wrong Krillin was already talking.

"Turn the TV on. Now." he said, a quality to his voice she couldn't quite place. Fear? Shock? Mijima didn't pause to ask why, Krillin wouldn't be calling her in the middle of a meeting, using the emergency code, unless it was important. She quickly reached over to the small console beside her and activated the large screen TV that took up one wall of the room, used mainly for presentations but able to receive television broadcasts.

"...ficance of my identity," a black haired woman was saying as she suddenly appeared on the screen. "My appearance now, will not be lost."

Mijima furrowed her brow in puzzlement, not sure to make of what she was seeing. "Krillin?" she asked, still watching the screen, unable to look away from the commanding gaze as the woman continued to talk.

"Raven." was all her husband said, and it was enough to make her eyes widen in surprise. And worry. On the screen, the woman continued as Mijima started hitting the buttons on her console again. At first the words UNABLE TO CONNECT, SIGNAL INTERFERENCE flashed on the bottom of the screen. Something seemed to be disrupting the open channels, and it took less than half a second for Mijima to realize that this message must have been playing over every open frequency.

With that thought she pushed a few more buttons and the words vanished, replaced with CONNECTING. A few long seconds later Bulma's face appeared down in the bottom corner of the screen and the cyborg could tell, just by her expression, that she didn't know about the broadcast yet. So she pushed a couple more buttons and routed the signal on the TV through her secured direct line.

XXX

Planet Vegeta

Bulma was currently sitting in a straight backed, uncomfortable looking, office chair staring in consternation at her computer screen. She didn't oversee Capsule Corp. anymore but, some days, seeing to the administrative affairs of an entire people could be almost as difficult. She'd finished her meal about twenty minutes ago and had excused herself and returned to her private office to get some work done, but was starting to wish she hadn't.

The logistics of managing an organization as large as the Sai-jin Empire, even if it was now effectively just a component of the Sennari, was a complicated and time consuming endeavor. Often seeming a losing battle as every issue that was dealt with seemed to be hiding three more that all demanded immediate attention. The most recent set of issues being a string of ships, of both the privately and militarily owned varieties, having gone missing.

The most recent of those a patrol cruiser of Sai-jin origin that had reported an unknown contact. The report said they were going to investigate the sensor reading and then... nothing. No further reports had come in, no distress signals, nothing. Another patrol had been diverted to investigate but found no sign of the missing cruiser, or it's unknown contact. Similar stories of ships making strange sightings and then suddenly vanishing had been coming in for the last two or three months, far too frequently for them all to be the result of some kind of accident.

At the moment she was trying to piece together the different contact reports. She wanted to locate each of the incident points and plot them out, see if she could discern some sort of pattern. Maybe track down a flight path as she had done a couple decades before with Slug and his course through the galaxy. Though, to be honest, she doubted it. From what she'd seen so far the contacts were so spread out over the galaxy at such times and places that one ship could not have possibly been at them all.

And that was just one of hundreds of issues going on within Sai-jin territory that she was looking into. There were also trade disputes, contract disputes, mining rights disputes, shipping rights disputes, fraud allegations, missing shipments of various governmental cargo, and the list went on and on. Though the issues that always proved to be the biggest problems were the planetary ownership disputes arising from the efforts to return stolen worlds to their original people that they'd begun fourteen years ago.

They'd finished establishing the basic framework of the process two years ago but so far only three worlds had been returned, with another six dozen currently in review. Each individual case was investigated in detail, the impact on all species involved was examined, and every effort was made to make the transition as appealing to the world's current occupants as it was to those who wanted to return home.

And still they'd had four worlds secede from the Sennari. One of them after the Homeworld Restoration Committee ruled against the natives who'd wanted to reclaim their home world. They'd determined that the planet's current occupants had greater need of the planet, and that relocation efforts would be detrimental to their society and even likely to result in numerous casualties. The natives hadn't liked that rulling and had left the Sennari. Two of the others had been the result of favorable rulings for the original inhabitants, and the current ones refusing to leave.

And, unfortunately, one of those two incidents had since broken out into war. The Sennari had attempted to intervene, to stop the conflict as the original inhabitants invaded their own home world, leveling sanctions and restrictions against them. Tried to convince them to allow the diplomats and negotiators to handle it. They had not yielded, however, and had instead been the fourth world to secede from the Sennari. At which point, the Sennari could no longer be involved as both worlds were independent nations.

For everything they'd managed to accomplish it seemed there were just as may setbacks. Bulma wasn't sure if things would ever be smoothed out. The entire point of the Sennari was to reduce conflicts and increase cooperation between the people of the North Galaxy but, so far, it seemed to be doing the opposite. The majority of the problems she saw and tried to help with were related to the transition from the previous governments into the new one. Her father-in-law said it was merely growing pains, that the early stages were always the roughest, and she hoped that was the case.

She was half way through reading the sixty-third page of a hundred and thirteen page report about the vanishing ships and their unknown contacts when her console beeped, indicating an incoming message. She glanced at it and furrowed her brow a little, surprised that the message was coming in to her personal line over a direct and secure channel. That was... unusual. She pulled it up and was left even more confused by the fact it was Mijima on the other end. Before she could ask the other woman anything, however, her screen changed. Mijima's image shrank and moved down into the corner and another woman's face filled the screen instead.

"...my birthright," the woman was saying. "As Queen of the North Galaxy... and the Sai-jin people. This transition does not need to be violent, and so I am calling Bardock, Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and Hotaru to come, meet with me. On Planet Namek."

Bulma stared for a second as the image of the woman vanished and was replaced by the emblem of te Sai-jin royal family inside a circle created by a golden serpent of some kind. And then Mijima's face filled the screen again and Bulma could see the concern in her eyes, the same concern that she was sure was in her own.

"Raven?" Bulma asked.

Mijima nodded. "That's what Krillin said."

"I'll... I'll let the others know." Bulma said, even as her fingers flew across her keys. Mijima's face vanished then as the Sai-jin queen typed furiously, already half standing in her urgency to get out of the room and find Vegeta. A second later her computer screen blanked for a second before a static image of the words EMERGENCY BROADCAST in big white letters on a black background appeared. She knew that same image had just appeared on every networked screen in Sennari space. With that done she turned from the computer and started toward the door even as the siren began to sound through the palace.

Stepping out into the hall she tried to force her heart to slow and her mind to focus. Over the last fourteen years she'd continued to train, picking up new skills that she'd felt would be useful. One of the main ones being ki sense. The palace was a big place, the planet even bigger, and the easiest way to track down her husband, son, or daughter was by sensing them out. Focusing her mind she soon detected Sakura and Hadagi down the hall in their room, then she felt Both Vegetas, Trunks, and Bra still in the cafeteria.

"Should have guessed." she said, hurrying off toward the cafeteria. "As fast as they eat Sai-jins take forever to finish a meal." Even as she made her way toward them she sensed them on the move as well, heading out of the cafeteria and, fortunately, in her direction. She knew Vegeta would be confused as to why Omega Protocol had been activated, the next drill wasn't scheduled for another three months and only around ten individuals in the galaxy new the codes to trigger it. A moment later, as the message was mid way through it's second run, Bulma rounded a corner in the hall and saw the four Sai-jins heading her way.

"Any idea what's going on?" Trunks asked as they approached.

"I triggered the Protocol." Bulma said, looking directly at Vegeta. "There was a broadcast. It's Raven."

The Sai-jin looked stunned for a second, like someone had just punched him in the gut, but he recovered quickly and a determined edge settled over his face. "Did she say anything?" he asked as Bulma stepped into line with the rest of her family and the four of them continued on down the hall.

"I didn't see it all. But she said she wants to meet with you, Hotaru, Goku, Gohan, and Bardock." Bulma said. "On Namek."

That brought Vegeta to halt for a moment, then the look on his face hardened and his jaw clenched as he started walking again. A meeting on Namek was bad news. If she wanted to meet there chances were she was already on the planet. If that was the case... If she or her people had gotten their hands on the Namekian dragonballs then things could be a lot worse than any of them had ever anticipated. Well, any of them but Piccolo. The Namek was probably the biggest pessimist in the universe.


End file.
